I’m back to North Carolina after another wonderful Christmas holiday in the Sunshine State with my family. As I mentioned on Monday, it was unseasonably warm in Florida this year – around 83 and sunny – and reminded me of the Christmas we spent in the front yard on our new roller blades. Many years have passed since our time in wrist-guards and knee-pads. Now, all approaching and surpassing our 30s, all four cousins spent our time catching up over glasses  (hey! that’s plural) of champagne and many laughs. My sister came in from Denver, cousin Alina from Berkley and cousin Callie, and her partner Eli, were in from Austin – amazing that we all are so spread apart. Nothing beats catching up with my family and especially hearing and telling stories with my grandfather.

For our Christmas lunch, my family prepared some of our favorite holiday treats with lots of seasonal citrus, avocados and seafood from Florida. Most of the recipes I’ve already shared throughout the years but I did make a new cheesecake this year with lemons from my mom’s trees. I’ll share the recipe tomorrow. My sister, Maggie, is a great forager and spent Christmas morning outside picking mistletoe, flowers and citrus to both decorate the table and add to salads and dressings. We both worked on assembling a beautiful table for 11 family members. Isn’t it just beautiful?! Here is our menu – I’ll catch you up on cheesecake tomorrow.

Hope ya’ll had a nice holiday. What did you cook?

Thompson Family Sunshine State Christmas Menu 2011 

• Avocado and Grapefruit Salad
• Prime Rib
• Shrimp Scampi
• Hasselback Potatoes
• Yorkshire Pudding
• Sautéed Rapini
• Chocolate Mousse
• Lemon Ginger Snap Cheesecake